Rethinking peri-urban areas for the climate transition

Tuesday 17 March 2026

Peri-urban areas, located at the interface between cities and the countryside, are among the most complex and vulnerable spaces in our territories. Here, industries, infrastructures, residential neighbourhoods and natural areas coexist, often without an integrated vision. These contexts concentrate many of today’s challenges related to climate change, pollution and social inequalities, but also offer important opportunities for innovation and sustainable transformation.

From this awareness comes SpurUP, a European project funded by the Horizon Europe programme that aims to support the transition of peri-urban areas towards climate neutrality. The project works to reduce the environmental impact of industrial activities, promote circular economy practices and strengthen integrated governance models through collaboration among local authorities, businesses, universities, research centres and communities.

SpurUP aims to tackle these issues head-on by integrating net-zero technologies and facilitating Local Green Deals by connecting industries with city authorities, businesses, and policymakers in a shared mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency.

SpurUP’s approach combines low-emission industrial solutions, digital tools and structured participatory processes. A central role is played by Living Labs, real-life experimentation spaces where solutions are co-designed, tested and improved together with local actors. In these settings, the climate transition is not only a technological challenge, but a shared process that puts people, territories and their specificities at the centre.

Living Labs and Replication Sites

To test its solutions, the project will involve three cities: Thessaloniki (Greece), Aalborg (Denmark), Jesi (Italy).

SpurUP’s Living Labs are located in Thessaloniki (Greece), Aalborg (Denmark) and Jesi (Italy). In Thessaloniki, the project focuses on the decarbonisation of industrial processes and resource reuse; in Aalborg, on the creation of industrial energy communities and circular water use; and in Jesi, on energy efficiency, sustainable urban planning and peri-urban mobility. These diverse contexts allow the project to test different solutions tailored to local needs, while being designed for replication in other regions.

These sites will serve as living labs by testing the grounds for digital tools and technical solutions tailored to regional needs. To ensure scalability, the project also includes three other cities as replication sites: Stara Zagora (Bulgaria), Tulcea (Romania), and Bristol (UK).

A distinctive element of the project is the development of participatory governance and urban planning frameworks, designed to make decision-making processes more inclusive, transparent and coordinated. By directly involving stakeholders, SpurUP promotes more effective and socially accepted solutions that respond to local needs and endure over time.

The project officially started with the first partners’ meeting, held in Athens, which enabled the consortium to share its vision, objectives and working methods. This moment marked the beginning of a collaborative journey aimed at translating the project’s ambitions into concrete actions in the territories involved.

Within SpurUP, CESIE contributes to the development of participatory processes, governance models and stakeholder engagement activities. Drawing on its experience in applied research and participatory design, CESIE works to strengthen the capacities of local actors and promote inclusive approaches that integrate environmental, social and economic dimensions in the climate transition.

Ultimately, SpurUP aims to create replicable models for other European regions, contributing to the development of more sustainable, resilient and inclusive peri-urban areas.

About SpurUP

SpurUP è is a Horizon Europe project (Project No. 101239566) dedicated to creating resilient, climate-neutral peri-urban regions. The consortium includes 34 partners across 11 countries, including universities, technology providers, local authorities, and NGOs.